UNDERGROUND CHANSONNIER – Goto Izumi Documentary

Underground  Chansonnier (working title) is an independent documentary feature due in 2013.

The film follows Japanese avant-garde accordionist Goto Izumi (Izumi Goto) on her DIY tours of Europe, North America and Japan from 2010-2012.

A well-known musician on the Japanese underground scene, Izumi is virtually unknown outside her native shores. Watch what happens as she takes her theatrical and interactive show to Europe.

Underground Chansonnier deals with music, friendships, avant-garde art, communication breakdowns and reverse culture shock.

It’s a warts-and-all road movie, following not just the performances onstage, but the meetings, mutterings and mishaps that occur backstage.

It shows a side of Japanese culture not usually seen – the independently thinking people who make their own way in a society that is still characterised by conformity and strict gender roles.

It also provides a unique behind-the-scenes insight in the underground European arts scene as it tries to adjust itself to a changing economic and cultural landscape.

Prepare to fall in love with Izumi – and to challenge your own cultural conventions as you see them through her entertaining and thoughtful eyes.

It is written, directed and edited by Sofie Ivan Andersen, an independent film maker from Denmark who lived in Japan for four years and speaks fluent Japanese.

More information about her work can be found here.

If you wish to learn more, or to support this independent film project in any way, please contact me. You can also sign up to a newsletter here:

sofiesfilms@gmail.com

And don’t forget, a free and easy way to show your support is by spreading the word about Izumi and about this film. Like the band Talk Talk said in the 80s, “talk talk!” And link, post, comment, tweet etbloodycet.

Thank you for your support.